Flaunt Your Cause

16 May 2012

Words cannot describe my excitement.
Today is finally the day for the Flaunt Your Cause link-up.
My vision is to spread inspiration around the blogosphere...
to find out the many ways people donate their time and money...to something bigger than themselves.

In fact, I'm so excited that I decided
to record a little welcome greeting.

Every year at our big family Christmas,
we have a massive feast,
and then gather around to open gifts.
Every year, the biggest stack of presents would sit in front of my grandma & grandpa.
Each of us wanted to express our love to them; however,
we reached a point in time where they simply had no need or want,
for more stuff.

Out of this dilemma, was born my favorite Christmas tradition.
You see, my grandma and grandpa decided they'd love to receivedonations to the Heifer Project charity instead of gifts.

And what started with my grandparents,
has now spread to Aunts and Uncles,
nieces and nephews.

Allow me to pause for a moment,
and explain more about the Heifer Project.
Actually, scratch that,
let me allow this dude to explain it in 60 seconds.

Thanks, 60-second man.

{first and last time I'll ever say that!}

Now I'll add my two-cents.

Things I love about The Heifer Project1.) They change entire villages, not just single families.2.) They provide tons of training & education to each family who receives an animal.3.) The animal is a "living" loan, because the family agrees to gift the offspring to another family.4.) The mission is simple: to end poverty and hunger worldwide.{and, yes, they do charitable work in the United States, too!}

You might be surprised that a vegetarian like me would support this kind of charity,
because, YES, they do (under certain circumstances) eat the animal's offspring.
However, I'm happy to support Heifer because I believe it's a privilege to choose to be vegetarian.
When you're living in poverty and hunger, your only choice is survival.
Also, I tend to donate goats and water buffalo (instead of pigs or cows) because they are used more for their milk and labor, respectively.

Photos courtesy of Heifer International

So every Christmas, I donate a goat ($120),
or go-in on a water buffalo ($250.)
What's even better? My company has a dollar-for-dollar gift matching program,
which means my donation is doubled!
AND I always receive several Heifer donations in return, from other family members!
I love the feeling that our family is able to help others in the true spirit of Christmas.

For more information on Heifer International, go to http://www.heifer.org{they also have many $20 donation levels}

Thank you SO MUCH for reading about my cause.

Now, please link-up so I can read about your cause!
The link-up will remain open for one week, so help spread the word.
On May 23, one charity will be randomly selected for a $50 donation!

The rules are simple:
1) Follow both HOST blogs (the first two linked below)
2) Grab the button code above
3) Write or vlog about your charity, using the following prompt:

I love this! Just last year, I was telling Mr. TBS that we should sponsor a turkey or other animal through Farm Sanctuary for Thanksgiving! However, Heifer Project is even better! And I agree that vegetarianism has nothing to do with the mission of the project. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

This is a great charity Emily. It might be taboo to say this, but I like that it isn't run by a religious group. Those types of charities can be awesome too, but it's great to see a secular organization doing good work in the world!

Wow I've never heard of this!I love the fact that you support this even though you choose to be a vegetarian...the fact that you pointed out that you know it's a privilege to be able to choose is HUGE! Seriously such an inspiration to read, Emily!

Love you heart and love your cause :)Thank you to you (and Lindz, of course) for teaming up and hosting this link up...loved it!